Understanding the Shingles Vaccine Over 500,000 Americans get the painful illness shinglesshingles every year. But that could be changing. In May 2006, the FDA approved the first shingles vaccine -- called Zostavax -- for people 60 and older. "It's a very important vaccine," says Robert H. Dworkin, PhD, a professor in the department of anesthesiology at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y. "It cuts the risk of developing shingles in half." While shingles could be treated with antiviral drugs to lessen its impact, up until now, doctors had no way to prevent it. Shingles can be painful in itself, but some of its complications are worse. About 20% to 30% of people who get it go on to develop severe neurological pain called postherpetic neuralgia, or PHN. It can last for months, years, or the rest of a person's life.